Sky Piercer Conclave

It is only natural, in high altitude environments such as mountains, that new fighting styles would be divised by any rangers that roam those regions. Fierce daredevils and bold dragoons, in sharing thoughts and observations about flying creatures - whether through teachings of generous celestials and elementals, or through tracking down wyverns and rocs - eventually led to the formation of the Sky Piercer conclave. These risk-taking individuals found great power and thrill in taking fights to the skies with their airborne enemies, or from striking their grounded foes with a drop from the heavens.

Soaring Leaps

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, your ability to launch yourself through the air - and gracefulness with landing - greatly increases. You can use Dexterity instead of Strength when determining your jump distance, your maximum jump distance is doubled, and you are not knocked prone when you take falling damage or land in Difficult Terrain.

Additionally, you learn a language of your choice of a being related to your aerial training: Celestial, Draconic, or Primordial.

Aerial Techniques

Also at 3rd level, you gain a supernatural aptitude for aerial combat. You learn three techniques of your choice. Many techniques enhance an attack in some way. If a technique can be performed as an action, it can replace one of your attacks. You can use only one technique per attack. You cannot use more than one technique at the same time. You learn one additional technique of your choice at 7th, 11th, and 15th level. Each time you learn a new technique, you can also replace one technique you know with a different one.

If an aerial technique requires an opposing creature to make a saving throw, the DC is equal to your Spell Save DC.

You can use aerial techniques a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus +2. You regain all expended uses after a long rest.

Aerial Momentum

Finally, you can convert some energy of aerial techniques, spellcasting, and falling with each other.

Creating Spell Slots. You can transform unexpended uses of aerial techniques into one spell slot as a bonus action on your turn. The spell slot must be for a level you can cast as a Ranger, and the level must be equal to the number of technique uses expended. Any spell slot you create with this feature vanishes when you finish a long rest.

Creating Technique Uses. As a bonus action on your turn, you can expend one spell slot and gain a number of uses for aerial techniques equal to the slot's level. These additional uses vanish when you finish a long rest.

Falling With Style. If you take fall damage, you can regain 1 expended use of your aerial technique feature or an expended 1st Level spell slot as a reaction.

Daredevil's Thrill

At 7th Level, where others might feel vertigo, your mind and reflexes get sharper. So long as you are 20 feet or higher in the air, or near a window or edge 30 feet or higher off of the ground, you gain advantage on all Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom ability checks.

Additionally at 7th Level, you can subtract a number of feet from your fall when calculating fall damage, up to your Proficiency Bonus x 10 (min. 1 damage from a fall). You also have advantage on saving throws to resist being Frightened.

Advanced Aerial Techniques

When you reach 11th Level, your aerial techniques improve and you unlock more techniques, as you become more and more comfortable with your wind-attuned abilities.

Aerial Superiority

At 15th Level, you gain a level of mastery over the winds themselves, and your fearlessness inspires others. You have immunity to the frightened condition, and all friendly creatures within 60-feet of you and can see you have advantage on saving throws to resist being frightened. Additionally, once per long rest, you can cast the Investiture of Wind or Wind Walk spell without spending a spell slot.

Techniques

The Aerial Techniques are presented in alphabetical order.

• Dire Hold. If you hit with a melee weapon attack, you deal an additional 2d6 damage, any fall damage you take this turn is halved, and the target must make a Strength Saving Throw. On a failure, they are knocked prone, and if you land adjacent to the them, you can grapple them (if they are no larger than 1 size category larger than you), or you begin climbing them (if they are greater than 1 size category larger than you).

  At 11th Level, the target has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws for as long as you are grappling or climbing them.

• Dive Bomb. If you hit with a melee attack, any fall damage you take this turn is halved, also increase the damage of that attack by 1d6 for every 10 feet you fall, with a maximum number of d6s up to your Ranger level, with a minimum of 1d6 if you fall less than 10 feet.

  At 11th Level, you can also make each creature within a 10-foot-sphere of the target location (including the target, and excluding you) to make a Strength Saving Throw. On a failure, those creatures take the bonus damage of the Dive Bomb as Force damage and are knocked prone. On a success, those creatures take half as much damage and are not knocked prone.

• Graceful Glide. As a bonus action, you gain a flying speed equal to your movement speed until the end of your current turn, and you do not provoke opportunity attacks when you fly out of an enemy's reach. At the start of your next turn, if you are still midair, you begin to fall if nothing is holding you aloft.

  At 11th Level, the fly speed increases to twice your movement speed, and for the rest of the round you use this technique, you gain the benefits of the Dodge action.

• Howling Trunade. As an action, each creature within a 20-foot cone of you must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, those creatures take 2d6 Thunder damage, are pushed up to 10-feet away from you, and are deafened for 1 minute. On a success, they take half as much damage and are not moved or deafened. A creature that fails the save can make a Constitution saving throw at the end of their turn to end the effect early. Any Medium or smaller objects that aren’t secured to anything and that aren’t worn or carried by anyone are pushed 20-feet away, causing any creatures in their way to make a Dexterity saving throw. Creatures take 2d6 bludgeoning damage if they fail the Dexterity saving throw, or take no damage if they succeed. The sound of this technique can be heard up to 100 feet away.

  At 11th Level, the cone's size increases to a number of feet equal to 10 x your Proficiency Bonus, and the Thunder damage increases to 4d6.

• Levitating Pulse. As an action, choose a point you can see within 60-feet of you. Each creature within a 20-foot-cube of that point makes a Constitution Saving Throw (willing creatures and Medium and smaller objects automatically fail the save). If they fail, they are moved 20 feet upward. Targets that are two size categories or larger than you have advantage on the saving throw. Non-flying creatures made airborne by this feature are affected by a Levitate spell, and do not start falling normally until 1 minute, you lose concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell), or you end the effect on your turn (no action required).

  At 11th Level, the maximum distance you can levitate creatures and objects by this technique becomes 10 feet x your Proficiency bonus. Creatures of your choice in the area are immune to the Levitation.

• Lightning Step. As an action while you have a melee weapon equipped, a number of creatures of your choice within a 30-foot long by 5-foot wide line of you must make a Dexterity Saving Throw. On a failed save, those creatures take your weapon's damage as Force damage, and 2d6 bonus Lightning or Thunder damage (your choice). On a success, they take half as much damage. Then, you can teleport to an unoccupied space you can see that is adjacent to any point on the line.

  At 11th Level, the length of the line can be up to 10 feet x your Proficiency bonus, and you can change directions at any point on the line (the maximum distance must remain the same).

Credits:

Homebrew by Misty_Jago

The illustrations credited below were used in good faith to create this document without express permission from their owners.

Art by Thanh Tran

Brush layers by Denny Trang and Daniel Kamarudin